If your buyers come from Telegram, the path to an order can be built three ways: a bot, a mini app inside Telegram or a regular website. They do not replace each other: each has its strengths and limits. Here is how they differ for the buyer and for you, and how to choose.
Bot, Mini App and website in short
A bot talks in messages and buttons right in the chat. It fits short flows: leave a request, pick one of a few options, get a file or access, receive a notification.
A Telegram Mini App is a web interface that opens inside Telegram: from a bot button, from the menu, by a link or from a channel post. It looks and works like an app: a catalogue, a cart, an account, a wallet, a game. Nothing to install, and the user is already signed in with their Telegram account.
A website lives in the browser and is found through search. It is the storefront for everyone who did not come from Telegram: from Google, ads or links on other platforms.
A practical comparison
| Bot | Mini App | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it opens | in a Telegram chat | inside Telegram, over the chat or full screen | in a browser |
| Sign-in | not needed | not needed, the user is already in Telegram | sign-up or sign-in if there is an account |
| Interface | messages and buttons | anything: catalogue, cart, forms, animation | anything |
| Search | search inside Telegram | search inside Telegram, search engines barely see it | Google and other search engines |
| Bringing a customer back | a message in the chat | a message from the bot with a link to the right screen | email, ads, bookmarks |
The main difference between a Mini App and a website is not the look but the short path: a person taps a button in a channel or bot and lands in the catalogue, with no sign-up, passwords or switching to a browser. And the bot can message them that the order is ready and open the right screen in one tap.
How to choose
A bot is enough if the flow fits into a few steps: a request with a couple of questions, a booking, handing out a file or access to a private channel, paying for one product. A bot is cheaper and launches faster.
You need a Mini App if the buyer has to browse and compare: a catalogue with filters, a cart, an account with history, a wallet, a game. In messages and buttons this becomes a long conversation, in a Mini App it looks like a familiar app.
You need a website if some customers come from outside Telegram or you want to be found through search. A website works with SEO and search ads, a Mini App does not.
Often the right answer is a combination: the website brings people from search, the channel and bot keep in touch, the Mini App takes orders. For the VisaGang shop, for example, we designed a Mini App for buyers and a separate admin panel for the team, with orders and stock in one place.
What a launch needs
- A flow. What a person does from opening the app to paying, and what the team sees after an order.
- A bot. A Mini App opens through a bot, so you need one in any case. It is created in @BotFather.
- Payment. Cards and crypto through payment providers. Under Telegram’s rules, digital goods and services inside Telegram are sold for Telegram Stars, worth planning for early.
- A server and data. Where products, orders and customers are stored, where notifications go: a CRM, a spreadsheet or your own admin panel.
- Design in two themes. Telegram can be light or dark, and the interface has to look good in both. The VO wallet in our portfolio is made this way.
Common mistakes
- Building a Mini App where a bot would do. The money goes into an interface that is hardly used.
- Moving a website into a Mini App one to one. Small links, long pages and a ten-item menu are awkward on a phone inside Telegram.
- Forgetting to bring the customer back. Telegram’s main strength is that the bot can message a person. Without notifications a Mini App loses half its point.
- Expecting search traffic to a Mini App. It has to come from the channel, the bot and ads.
What it takes
A bot is usually cheaper and faster than a Mini App, a website depends on the number of pages. A Mini App from Wide Studio includes flows, a design system in two themes, development, connecting the bot and payment, and publishing. The exact price depends on the number of screens and integrations, we name it after a short brief.